Championship Cost: Dodgers Luxury Tax Bill Soars to New Heights
The Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series, and now they are paying the bill.
The champions top the list of a record nine MLB teams that were hit with luxury tax bills, ESPN and USA Today reported Friday.
Los Angeles was assessed a $103 million penalty for its $353 million payroll, far beyond the $237 million mark that triggers the luxury tax when it is exceeded.
Rounding out the top five in highest luxury tax bills were four other playoff teams: the New York Mets ($97.1 million), the New York Yankees ($62.5 million), the Philadelphia Phillies ($14.4 million) and the Atlanta Braves ($14 million).
The 2023 World Series champion Texas Rangers, who missed the postseason in 2024, were sixth with a $10.8 million bill. The Houston Astros, who reached the playoffs this year but saw their run of seven consecutive trips to the American League Championship Series end, were seventh at $6.5 million.
The last two teams on the luxury-tax list both failed to make the playoffs: the San Francisco Giants ($2.4 million) and the Chicago Cubs ($570,309).
The total luxury tax due of $311.3 million is another record.
A tax rate of 50 percent was assessed to the Dodgers, Mets, Yankees and Phillies for topping the prescribed salary figure three years in a row. The rate was 30 percent for Atlanta and Texas for being on the list in back-to-back years. A 20 percent rate applied for the three newcomers: Houston, San Francisco and Chicago.
Additional taxes were added for teams that exceeded other benchmarks above the $237 million level.
The luxury-tax proceeds are split between player benefits, player retirement funds and money that gets doled out to clubs as revenue sharing.
